avablog

We were all getting ready to go this morning when Ava went into the bathroom and asked for some privacy (as she always does when there’s a #2 on deck). After a couple minutes I peeked in to see how she was doing, and she was standing next to the toilet, peering into the bowl. […]

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Ava and I walked up the the nearby high school last evening to play with her ball. I used the opportunity to get some shots with the 75-300mm lens my friend Q loaned me. It’s a beauty. Not only did we have fun tossing the ball around, but I got some cool pictures, too. Here, […]

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Leah called at noon today and got the results of our recent tests. Drum roll, please…. Leah’s blood work came back all normal. So that’s good. Most of my sperm analysis came back fine. My pH was a little high. Normal range tops out at 8, and I was an 8.2. Always overachieving. Doc doesn’t […]

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I rarely think about age and getting older. Well, actually, I think all the time about age, thanks to Ava, but I don’t usually sit around in wistful remembrance of my youth. But today I saw something that made me feel old. Meat Loaf is 60. Meat Loaf! It hardly seems possible, but then he […]

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I wonder often about the physiological changes a person undergoes when they have a child. I’ve noticed that I occasionally get this weird feeling like I’m expressing some unconscious trait that I didn’t know I had. Is it too far out there to think that my body has undergone some of the same — or […]

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What I need is a graph that shows the number of pictures I’ve taken over the last three years. I wonder if it will spike now that I have the new camera. Probably. Just as it did each time I’ve had a new camera. I think Flickr can do something like that. Too bad there’s […]

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Your skin was brown and smooth, and your body was round. You were quiet and intimidating. You had a challenging mouth. You came wrapped in plastic, I in my black dress socks. I sat with you nestled between my thighs until it was time to drop you off.

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Thank you, Site5! I would complain about the RAID array failure at my host, which led to a three day outage here at avablog, but I’m piggybacking on my friend Greg’s account, so…. You didn’t miss much, anyway. We’ve been up in Decorah since Friday afternoon for the annual apple cider weekend. This event revolves […]

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I accompanied Leah to an Ob/Gyn appointment yesterday to see if her doctor had any words of advice about getting pregnant (aside: As I was writing that sentence, I first wrote appt. instead of appointment. I wonder why we bother to write out that word anymore. Is there anyone who doesn’t know what appt. is […]

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So I’m finishing up Ava’s bath a couple minutes ago, and she’s playing “The Coffee Game.” It involves me placing an order for coffee, and Ava takes her two plastic cups and makes up a piping hot cup of brew for me. I order. “Skinny decaf latte, please, one pump of vanilla.” “You aren’t a […]

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Things weren’t looking up for my birthday this year when my first snail mail card arrived postage due yesterday. But I knew the WWW wouldn’t let me down, and this morning I received an e-card that included the image below, which makes everything all right. Ava made me a gorgeous card, too, which I’ll get […]

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This is why. Someone went out and trademarked this phrase, drew up a design, and had it on a clothing line less than 48 hours after the words were uttered (screamed). I love it. I think I like the ringer T best.

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I might record The View. I love to watch stupid people saying stupid things, and The View looks like a great place for that. E.g.: WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Is the world flat? SHERRI SHEPHERD: Is the world flat? (laughter) GOLDBERG: Yes. SHEPHERD: …I Don’t know. GOLDBERG: What do you think? SHEPHERD: I… I never thought about […]

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I love this shot of Ava opening up her new doll house on Monday morning. It’s like she can hardly believe what she’s looking at. This morning, as we were getting ready to leave, she was in her room playing with the doll house. It’s interesting to watch Ava set her imagination to work moving […]

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People who keep talking in a meeting after all the meeting’s business has been conducted. It makes me want to rip my own arms off.

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I originally thought that I would be able to get away with just posting a couple pictures of the pizza we had at Simone’s Plain and Simple on Saturday evening, but since I’m still reliving the meal in my mind this morning, I figure that’s a sign that I ought to provide a bit more […]

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Some of you might be familiar with the life and work of John Hodgman. If you’re not, I encourage you to seek out his teachings and live by them. As for myself, I plan to acquaint Ava with the six oaths of the virtuous child just as soon as she’s able to understand what an […]

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I don’t really have any idea what our family members are getting Ava for her birthday. We’re getting her plenty of gifts, actually, and she’s not in need of anything other than clothes and cash for her college fund. But I’m going to go out on a limb right now and predict that her favorite […]

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“They say” 24 ounces of coffee daily (everything in moderation) is good for you, so I’ve been trying to have a cup most days. As you loyal readers probably know, Leah tries to get to the coffee shop every day before work and on the weekend, too, but that gets expensive (skinny decaf latte, one […]

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